"Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day's risinghe rode singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.Hope he rekindled, and in hope he ended;over death, over dread, over doom liftedout of loss, out of life, unto long glory."

Early Life

His sister Théodwyn lived with him in Edoras, and after she and her husband both died he adopted her children Éomer and Éowyn as his own. He had a son, Théodred, whose mother Elfhild died in childbirth.

War of the Ring

By the time of the War of the Ring, Théoden had been king for nearly 30 years, and was getting old and tired. He was increasingly misled by his chief advisor Gríma (or Wormtongue as most others in the Mark called him), who was secretly in the employ of Saruman the White; Gríma may even have been poisoning his lord. He also had a minstrel called Gleowine.

In the last years before the War of the Ring, Théoden let his rule slip out of his hands, and Gríma became increasingly powerful. Rohan was troubled again by Orcs and Dunlendings, who operated under the will of Saruman, ruling from Isengard.

When Théodred was mortally wounded at a Battle at the Fords of Isen with the Orcs of Saruman, his nephew Éomer became his heir. Éomer was out of favour with Wormtongue, however, and was eventually arrested.

When Gandalf and Aragorn appeared before him, Théoden initially rebuffed Gandalf's advice to ride out against Saruman, but after being healed by the Wizard, he restored his nephew, took up his sword, and led the Riders of Rohan into battle at Helm's Deep. After this he became known as Théoden Ednew, the Renewed, because he had thrown off the yoke of Saruman.

He led the Rohirrim to the aid of Gondor at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. In that battle he challenged the Black Serpent of the Haradrim, and slew him and his standard-bearer. The Lord of the Nazgûl attacked him, and he was mortally wounded when his horse Snowmane fell upon him after being frightened by the Ringwraith's Fell beast. He was immediately avenged by Éowyn and the HobbitMeriadoc Brandybuck, both of whom had ridden to war in secret. He claimed to Merry at his death on the field that he was satisfied, for he had felled the Black Serpent.

Etymology

The Anglo-Saxon word "þeoden", means "Lord", and contains the element þeod "people" (éothéod "horse-people"). It is related to the Old Norse word þjóðann, meaning "Leader of the People" (i.e. "King").

In Tolkien's fictional etymology, the name Théoden is an Old English translation of the original RohirricTûrac, an old word for King.

Other versions

In one of Tolkien's early drafts, Théoden also had a daughter by the name of Idis, but she was eventually removed when her character was eclipsed by that of Éowyn.

This film deviates from Tolkien's story by having Théoden (played by Bernard Hill) actually possessed by Saruman rather than simply deceived by Gríma. He then goes to Helm's Deep to take his people to safety rather than to make a stand against the enemy.

Théoden at first refuses to come to the aid of Gondor saying that Gondor did not come to the aid of Rohan at the Battle of the Hornburg. His death is placed after the coming of the Haradrim, and is depicted differently; he is not crushed by Snowmane, but wounded by the fell beast. In general, his personality is changed from a "kindly old man" to that of a callous and somewhat obstinate character, though he has several tender moments at the grave of his son and near Éowyn.